Lost in Transmission: Using Study Groups to Provide Space for Creativity and Reflexivity in an Instrumentalist University Environment

Since independent study groups can be important in providing spaces for students in creative disciplines to develop a critically reflexive approach to their creative practice, tutors in an Australian university introduced independent group learning to students studying in creative disciplines. However, student responses to the experience of independent learning were extremely diverse. Where as some students responded positively, others were very negative. Feedback revealed that the influence of spoken and unspoken institutional discourses, such as those about what is worth knowing and what is appropriate pedagogy, affected students' readiness to engage with group processes and with the theoretical elements of the course. While study groups may work well to nurture creativity and reflexivity, their usefulness can be compromised in an instrumentalist environment where the focus is on finding the most efficient means to achieve the desired ends. This raises the question of how to sustain pedagogies that enhance creativity and reflexivity in a university environment where instrumentalist pedagogies dominate in the creative disciplines.